Surrounded by An Angel
by Meydral Skirata
Summary: Padmé goes to comfort Anakin after the battle of Geonosis, and she realizes just how much she loves him.


_**I hope you all like this. I didn't even stop typing until I finished it. I wanted to get it down while it was fresh in my mind. I do not own any of the characters! God bless!**_

Finally! She was finally going to see him. After everything, she needed to see him. Needed to tell him what was on her heart and mind. She also knew he would need some comfort. Obi Wan had told her how well his talk with Anakin went when he woke up. To know that Anakin wept like that broke her heart. She wished she was there. He needed her there.

Now she was finally going to be there. As she approached the door to his room she braced herself. Taking a deep breath she gathered her strength, and then finally entered. The room was dark due to the blinds being shut. She understood if Anakin preferred darkness right now. The room was silent, except for the sound of weeping. Looking down towards the bed in the corner Padmé could see Anakin curled in a fetal position, and his body shaking with his constant, fast intakes of breath.

Shutting the door behind her she crept her way to his side silently until she reached the edge of the small bed. Then she lowered herself to her knees. He must not have sensed her yet, because he hadn't turned towards her. Carefully, so as not to startle him, she placed a hand on his shoulder, and gently rubbed small circles with her thumb.

The weeping stopped and his breathing became stable again, then after a while he turned to her, and she could see just how pain struck he was. "Oh Ani." She silently whispered to herself. She wiped a few of his tears away with her hand, but he caught with his and held it to his cheek.

His gaze seemed to be pleading with her. She understood. Padmé gathered him into her arms, and then rested his head on her chest, right above her heart, and she let him cry some more. She soothed him as best she could, running her hand down his hair, or rubbing his bare back. It seemed to be helping. He only let out the occasional whimpers. Then she realized something.

He was only holding onto her with his flesh-and-blood hand.

Obi-Wan had said that his prosthetic had been put on. When Padmé looked down she saw he was trying to hide it from her. Even though he wasn't looking in her eyes, she gave him a questioning gaze. Then she pushed him back down on his back so he could see her. He didn't react, he just stated back at her.

Padmé sat up, and then delve into the blankets, and his metal hand was now in between her palms. Then he snatched it away, and tried to hide it from her by supporting his wait on his left elbow and turned his front body away from her. Cradling the the prosthetic against his chest. "Ani." She said gently. "Ani, turn around." He shook his head.

"You'd think less of me if you saw it. Or touched it even more." He said with hurt in his voice.

"Anakin, I could never think less of you. It's just a maim."

"It's my label as a failure. My failure to save the people I love, and my failure to stop an impeccable war."

"Oh Ani! None of that is your fault. This war is the result of others' greed, and you tried to reach you're mother in time."

"But I didn't! And now she's gone, and Dooku is sill at large."

Padmé moved closer to him, and then placed her left hand on his shoulder. "I know that you wish you could have gotten to her earlier, but you still wanted to obey your master. That's a tough spot to be in for someone like you. Ani, it's not your fault that she's dead. Death is just a part of life, but I know that you've already experienced too much of it in your life. As for Dooku. He's just a coward. Now I'm not saying you are weak at all, in fact you are the strongest person I know, but...you just may have not been ready to face him. Your mother had just died, and you had just gotten out of a life threatening situation. That's an awful lot to deal with in one day. Surely, you must have been tired." He didn't turn around, but Padmé could feel that some of the tension in him had left. "Ani, don't think of your arm as a symbol of the failure which you think you are, think of it for what it truly is."

Anakin lifted his head to look at her, but he still didn't turn his body. "And what is that?"

She gave him the most heartwarming smile she could master. "It's a symbol of your strength and determination, the kind that only you could carry. Of your effort to save those you love, and your effort to stop evil forces." When she applied pressure on his shoulder, indicating that she wanted him to lie down, he didn't resist and rolled onto his back. Then Padmé finally got a good look at his arm. She took it in between her palms again, and caressed the cold metal fingers. "That's what it truly is Ani. And in time, you will learn to except it as that." She removed one of her hands and rested it on his cheek, rubbing in a vertical motion with her thumb. "I'll help you."

He smiled. It was a smile of gratitude, but mostly of love." He placed his other hand on the back of her head and pulled her down until their faces were almost touching. Then Padmé did the rest. She lowered her lips onto his, and they kissed.

It wasn't as desperate as the one in the arena. This kiss was more gentle, like their first kiss. Only this time it was full of love, and Padmé wasn't afraid to let herself continue.

When it was over she laid on his right side, continuing to caress his new metal fingers. He seemed so much more content, proving her right that he did in fact need her. Immediately she felt guilty for not just forcing her way in here earlier. "Does it hurt at all?" She asked him.

"It hurts a lot."

That hurt her. To know that he was in pain. "You should tell them."

"I did. They said it's normal and will go away in time. But they have me on medication for it."

Padmé wanted to comfort him somehow. The only way she could think of though was kissing the fingers, even though she knew that wouldn't do anything. "Wow! He said. She looked at him quizically. "What?" She asked. "That made it go away." He answered. She smiled at him sweetly, and leaned up as he leaned down to kiss him.

Then they just lay there. Content. They only existed in each other. Everything else was but a spec in their world.

As Padmé lay with him, she was positive, without a doubt in her mind, that she loved Anakin more than anything. He had crept his way into her heart, and now he was there forever, with no chance of leaving. She wanted to be his comfort, his person to escape to, his shoulder to cry on, his support. And she wanted him to be hers.

Obi-Wan's words came rushing back to her. He had raised Anakin for the last ten years, anyone would think that he would know what's best for Anakin. But then he had marched himself strait into her apartment, and ordered her to end her relationship with Anakin, claiming that their love would destroy him. Yet, she lay here now, in Anakin's chambers. It was her love that had made him feel less hurt like when she first walked in here. She knew Anakin needed her, but now she knew for sure that he would need her. She had not intended to do what Obi-Wan said in the first place, and that was still to be the case.

"Obi-Wan's said something to you, hasn't he?" Anakin asked.

Padmé looked him in the eye, wondering how it was that he knew. "Yes. How did you know?"

He smiled at her sarcastically. "You were broadcasting it rather loudly. That made it very easy for me to read you. We'll have to work on that." He traced her nose with flesh-and-blood forefinger. Then his smile fell. "What did he say?"

"He knows you have feelings for me. Then he got suspicious that I was returning those feelings. He just came by my apartment and told me that if I did, I needed to end it. That if I continued to love you, it would destroy you. So, I told him I would take you with me to Naboo and end it."

For some reason Padmé felt Anakin tense up. "Do you intend to?"

Padmé whipped her head up to look Anakin strait in the eye, and then sat up on her forearms. "Of course not! Why would you ask that?"

"It's just, I know you only told me you love me back on Geonosis because you were afraid we were about to die. I just couldn't help but wonder, when you said Obi-Wan told you-"

"Ani!" She cut him off. "When I said I love you back on Geonosis I meant it. And I wanted you to at least die knowing that I did, in case we were going to die. But I meant it Ani. I love you more than anything! And that will never change."

Padmé watched the doubt leave Anakin's eyes, and love took it's place as a smile crept his lips. "I love you too!" Then he pulled her back to him again and ignitiated yet another kiss.

When it was over Padmé lay her head back on Anakin's chest, and enjoyed listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

Suddenly, she felt his pulse pick up, and his body temperature rise. What was he nervous about? She felt herself being indicated to sit up, and she let him. Then they were facing each other, and he looked as though he was afraid to say something. "What's wrong?" She asked. He looked up at her, and he looked as though he were ready to burst.

"Padmé," He hesitated, but then he spoke again. "Will you marry me?"

The air rushed out her lungs, her face drained color, and she could have sworn her heart stopped for a number of seconds. Had he said what she thought he just said? Was he really ready to take that step with her, to make a commitment like that. Was she?

Her answer sat right in front of her, looking as though he had been hit by a reek. He had stolen her heart the moment he asked her if she was an angel. She had fallen for him more and more until finally he kissed her. She was just so afraid for him, afraid that she might ruin his possible future as a Jedi, but now she was unwilling to give him up, she wouldn't even survive without him. She had wanted to be in a commitment like this with someone, and that someone was going to be Anakin Skywalker.

Her eyes filled with tears, but she tried hard to blink them away. "Yes!" She sobbed.

Anakin looked at her wide eyed. "Yes?"

"Yes!" She wound her arms around him tightly as if she wanted to crush the air out of him. Then she felt his arms wrap around her, and she had never felt so whole.

"Are you sure? You know this means we have a lot to work out now. We have to consider the Senate, the Jedi, your family, everyone."

"I don't care. I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine. Somehow we'll make it work, but for now the only thing I'm concerned about is finding a holy man, and picking out a wedding dress." She heard him chuckle, and then his arms tightened around her.

They held each other for what seemed like an eternity. But then it all ended when he said. "Someone's coming!"

Padmé released him and looked toward the door. Indeed she heard voices, and until she could come again they're time together was over. She framed his face with her hands and they kissed each other desperately. Trying to get enough of each other before they parted.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Comm me if you need anything." She whispered.

"All right." He kissed her one last time. "I love you!"

"I love you two!" Then she rose, and exited the room just as Vokara Che entered.

When Padmé entered her apartment she couldn't help but feel like something was missing. She knew head on it was Anakin. She wanted him with her, or to at least just as some part of him with her. Then it hit her.

Immediately she ran to her room and pulled out her jewelry box. Then she found it, her now most precious treasure. Her japor snippet. She scolded herself for never having even put it on once in these last ten years, but once she got over it she walked to her dresser mirror and watched herself slip it on her neck. She adjusted the cord to where it was right above her heart.

Now she felt whole again. She had a piece of Anakin here with her. She let a single tear fall from her eye, and then she grasped the precious charm. "Goodnight Ani!"

She wasn't sure if she was imagining things, but she could have sworn she just heard Anakin's voice saying goodnight Padmé.

_**I'm considering just making this a one-shot, but I want to know what you think first. Please leave reviews! I love your feedback! God bless!**_


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